The invention relates to an appliance for testing oblong tablets or similarly shaped tablets and more especially for the weighing, measuring and fracture testing of such tablets, in suitable testing stations.
The German utility model 8,402,581 discloses a tablet testing appliance with a conveying means, in the case of which the tablets are passed from a feed means onto a conveying means with a rake, which possesses a plurality of forks which move the tablets further on along a conveying path. A moving means for the rake moves the rake along a distance in the direction of the conveying means, then lifts the rake and moves the rake in the raised state a corresponding distance back again against the conveying direction. After this the rake is lowered and again moved through a certain conveying distance. Along the path of movement of the rake a plurality of testing stations are provided, namely a weighing means, a testing station for measuring thickness and testing station for the fracture test. The known tablet testing appliance is suitable for round or spherical tablets, but less so for so-called oblong tablets and similarly formed tablets, which may possess a substantially oval form in plan view, a flat edge about their periphery and vaulted top and bottoms sides. Such tablets give rise to difficulties with the known appliance. In the various testing stations such as the thickness measuring station, the diameter measuring station and the station for fracture testing they cannot always be aligned in the necessary fashion.